Do tiles have to be worked in order to get the yields?

Question

I never really understand how tile yields work (Civ 6 Gathering Storm). I have done my own experiments on this, but the results seem conflicting, so I figured I should probably just ask people in the know.

It seems to me in order to get the yields of a tile, it has to be worked by a citizen. But what about bonus yields? For example, if some yields on a few tiles in a city are boosted by a pantheon/natural wonder (e.g. faith bonuses), do I also need to have the tiles worked to access those yields? Do I lose the bonuses permanently when I build a district/wonder on the tile?

Also for the Earth Goddess pantheon, which grants faith to breathtaking tiles, do I need to have the tiles worked? My own experiments seem to suggest that is not necessary. But do the faith yields also become inaccessible when a wonder/district is built on that tile?

Answer 1

The short answer is, yes!

For your cities to gain the potential yields off a tile, the city needs to work the tile. An exception to this rule is for luxury and strategic resources. The resource will be added to your stockpile even if the tile is not worked (it needs to be improved however).

All bonuses from pantheons, civilizations, natural events or other improvements (wonders, technologies, etc) are automatically figured into the potential yield that you see on screen when you are visualizing the yields. Hence, you get the impression to "earn" them. And yes, you have earned these bonuses, however, they are not added to what the city collects in yields each turn unless the tile is worked. This is likely to show the user, transparently, what the will earn when working the tile.

You can very easily observe this when you found your first city. Try switching around low and high production tiles by forcing them to be worked manually. You will see a considerable difference in production and food income and should also see it reflected (after the turn updates) in your turns remaining to grow or produce whatever is in your queue.

Wonders and districts will not allow a tile to be worked in the traditional sense. Wonders offer their specific bonuses while districts offer specialist slots that can be worked for a district-specific benefit. It is worth noting that all luxury and strategic resources will automatically be collected on if covered by a city or district.